365 Slow Cooker Suppers

Friday, April 11, 2014

In January I started a new job and though I'm loving it, the hours and the commute are a bit longer. Consequently I'm not always in the mood to cook by the time I get home. After a couple weeks of getting home and just wanting to make frozen pizza or go out to dinner, I realized I needed to find another solution to eat a little healthier. I'm not a huge cookbook person and tend to just get the recipes I want online, but I'd had my eye on the 365 Slow Cooker Suppers cookbook for a while. I got a copy with the hope that I could combine the ingredients in the crock pot the night before (after I have time to relax after work) then in the mornings I would just need to start the slow cooker and it would be ready when I got home.

(Honey Lime Chicken Soft Tacos)

Every single recipe in the cookbook is made in a slow cooker and they don't require a ton of prep work, which I love. There's a great variety in the recipes offered, everything from Miso salmon to chicken piccata. So far I love it and it's a big improvement as far as saving my sanity after work. The cookbook starts with a huge list of ingredients that you might want to keep on hand, which is so incredibly helpful. It's also splits the recipes into your basic poultry, beef, veggie sections, so it's easy to navigate. One aspect I love is the author's notes on each recipe. She adds a few comments on each ones about her personal experience with it. I read through the whole thing, bookmarking recipes I wanted to try, then I went through my pantry to check for ingredients and made a big grocery list of what I needed. I've already made half a dozen recipes from the book and have a few more I'm trying soon.

(Carrot and Coconut Bisque)

The split pea and ham soup is the runaway favorite so far. It's creamy and so good! We sprinkled some grated parmesan on top and it warms up really well the next day too. The honey lime chicken tacos had a great flavor and everyone liked them a lot. We used lots of cilantro and Nonfat Greek yogurt as toppings and we'll definitely be making those again! The honey Dijon beef stew wasn't as great. It turned out pretty well, but the red wine flavor was a little overwhelming and I have another beef stew recipe we like more. The only bomb was the carrot and coconut bisque. It had the consistency of baby food with a weird spicy/sweet after taste. Honestly we are not picky eaters, but this one was awful. We ended up dumping it and making frozen pizza. You win some, you lose some. Overall I'm really pleased with the cookbook and I am planning on making a couple of the recipes each week. We always end up with leftovers and that makes packing lunches easier too!

(Mac and Cheese - not from the cookbook)

I also recently used my crock pot to make mac and cheese. I had never tried the crock pot liners before (the plastic sleeve you can put the crock pot in to make clean up easy) but it worked so well! I used the Reynolds brand. I won't use them all the time, but if I have a bunch of people over it would be perfect! That way you aren't scrubbing out a crock pot while you're guest are hanging out in the other room. Anyway, a few people on Instagram asked for the mac and cheese recipe, so here it is courtesy of the Huz' cousin.

Mac n Cheese

Ingredients:

- 4 oz cooked macaroni

- 6 oz evaporated milk

- 3/4 cup milk

- 1/8 cup melted butter

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 egg

- 2 cups shredded cheese

Spray the crock pot first then combine all ingredients together and cook on low for 3 hours. I sometimes sprinkle bread crumbs on top. (I mixed the both kinds of milk, butter, salt, and egg in a bowl before adding it to the crock pot.)

My new favorite crock pot recipe is Chicken & Dumplings. They taste exactly like my Mom's but they are SO much easier! I don't use canned biscuits for the dumplings though, I make Bisquick dumplings (the recipe is on the box).http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/09/comfort-foods.html

I am convinced that somewhere out there - unfound by me - there is a slow cooker cookbook without a single recipe requiring me to cook/saute/back/boil/etc. something before it goes in the pot. I just want to throw a bunch of uncooked food in and get a delicious meal at the end of the day. :)

Rating System

I rate on my personal reaction to the book, not its literary merit: ★ = one star ☆ = 1/2 star
★★★★★: A new favorite, a must-read
★★★★: Liked it a lot, but won't reread
★★★: Nothing special, but OK
★★: Not my cup of tea
★: Waste of time